As per usual, Stanford plays host to a jam packed, exciting draw. Keeping in mind the top seeds, Serena, and the fact that it’s a 28 player draw, we are going to have some juicy early round matches. Oh, did I mention Sabine (possible second round match with Sam), Rebecca Marino (possible second round match with Marion) and Dani (possible second round match with Masha) are playing too? Delicious. This tournament should be fantastic by Wednesday, I can’t wait. And if for some reason you don’t already know, there is going to be excellent coverage over at Forty Deuce as well.

The inaugural Citi Open in Maryland, while not boasting the same star power as Stanford, should prove to be an exciting one. Highlighted by big hitting veterans Shahar, Petrova, and Dokic, there are also a ton of intriguing up-and-coming young players, such as Bojana, Sloane Stephens, Genie Bouchard, Heather Watson, and the list goes on. Even if it is a veteran who ends up winning the tournament, this could be a great chance for a couple of young guns to rake in some much needed points and squeeze them into US Open qualifying or main draw contention.

The clay season: yes it goes on and on my friends. What guys like Youz and Feli are doing in Switzerland instead of preparing for the hard court season, a surface they should prefer, is beyond me. But hey, it sure is pretty there, no?

Regardless, Gstaad has one squeaky clean looking draw. All eight seeds are in the top 50, and six of them are from Spain. Have fun, you silly clay rats.

The most surprising thing about this tournament? Mr. Clean Ljubicic is ranked above Marin Cilic. Dude. Get it together.

Otherwise, it’s similar to the above, minus some of the bigger, more recognizable names. Still, there’s some solid clay players and others of intrigue (JCF, Haase) that make this tournament worth watching.

Unfortunately there isn’t quite the depth to the Los Angeles tournament that we might be used to, but there sure are some sweet match-ups. First round? Dimitrov/Haas. Gonzo is here too, after a pretty fantastic Wimbledon, all things considered. The Tryin’ Ryan American combo of Sweeting/Harrison is also here, taking on Somdev and Berankis in the first round respectively.

I’m pretty sure that’s U. of Michigan’s campus you have there for U. of Maryland’s. Michigan’s logo is usually a big maize (yellow) or blue M. Maryland’s is usually a turtle holding a red M. If they were going to do just a plan M Maryland would choose red or black first since it’s their colors.